Posted
by
timothy
on Saturday February 16, 2013 @06:18AM
from the watch-your-caps-gentlepersons dept.

dmfinn writes "With less than 5 days until the reported PS4 launch event, new details are emerging regarding some of the console's next-gen capabilities. Since last June, Sony has been quietly sitting on its $380 million dollar acquisition of Gaikai, a cloud based gaming company. The Wall Street Journal, among other sources, is now reporting that the PS4 will have GaiKai's cloud-based gaming technology directly integrated, thought it is unclear exactly what types of games will be available for streaming. Back in June, a rumor circulated that Sony was planning to use the technology to support backwards compatibility with PS2 and PS1 games, though no further details have arisen regarding whether or not the new console will be able to play previous generation games. It appears that Sony will most likely be using the service to stream PS3 and indie games to the console, as the current technology only supports 720p, not high enough quality for blockbuster games. Constantly streaming interactive graphics, even if only at 720p, will still require a fast internet connection. Services like OnLive have struggled in the past due to the large amount of bandwidth they require, and many consumers complained of laggy connections and horrendous graphics. There is no word yet regarding the features of the games being streamed, including whether or not they will support online or local multiplayer."

A gaming PC can cost less than $400. The PS3 was ridiculed for costing "five hundred and ninety-nine U.S. dollars" at launch.

it's no fun using keyboard and mouse on the sofa

PCs support USB gamepads. These can be native PC controllers (largely made by Logitech), Xbox 360 wired controllers, Xbox 360 wireless controllers through the wireless receiver, or classic console controllers through adapters from infiniteneslives.com and retrousb.com.

PCs have noisy fans

Any noisier than Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 fans?

and ugly cases

More home-theater-appropriate cases are available.

you can't play Sony's exclusive games

Nor can you play Microsoft's exclusive games on a PlayStation family platform.

you also can't play other console-only games like Red Dead

Nor can you play PC-only games on a PlayStation family platform. I count a lot more PC-only games than PS3-only games and projected PS4-only games combined.

PCs need to be replaced with a new model every 3-4 years.

Source?

Game console cycles last 5-7 years.

There are exceptions of course. Why did the Nintendo DS replace the Game Boy Advance after about 3 1/2 years (second quarter 2001 to fourth quarter 2004)? Why did the Xbox 360 replace the Xbox after four?

windows 8

It would appear that the Modern UI-style Start Screen of Windows 8 actually makes it easier to launch games using a controller. That could be why the Xbox 360 dashboard resembles Windows 8's Start Screen more than it resembles Windows 7's Start Menu.